


It's the little things

by Dreaming_gamer



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, Just a cold though, Kissing, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24354478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreaming_gamer/pseuds/Dreaming_gamer
Summary: It was always the little things that told Nero if V was feeling under. And it's the little things that made V love Nero so.
Relationships: Nero/V (Devil May Cry)
Kudos: 55





	It's the little things

**Author's Note:**

> I was in a fluffy mood for these two and the fic below is the result. Hope you enjoy :D

It was always the little things that told Nero if V was feeling under.

If V was still asleep when Nero woke up, curled into a ball with his raven black locks on Nero’s shoulder, Nero knew V was tired.

If V didn’t wake up when Nero moved, instead embracing Nero’s pillow as his boyfriend pulled away (so hard to do when V looked serene while slumbering, but breakfast wouldn’t make itself), Nero knew V was catching a cold. V was usually very still while sleeping, falling asleep in one position, usually with his head on Nero’s arm or shoulder, and staying like that until morning. Unless a nightmare woke him, which was fortunately not that often.

When they had started to live together, Nero had kicked him in his sleep more times than either of them could count. Thankfully he’d improved with time, possibly since Shadow, their cat, had started to claw at him if his feet got too close.

Finally getting himself out of the soft clutches of the blanket, and his boyfriend’s arms, Nero put down a pair of fluffy slippers by the bed, leaving V to sleep a few more precious minutes. Shadow was happily spread out over V’s feet, just as Nero slipped out of the bedroom.

Nero wouldn’t say he liked V getting sick, but there was a small part of him that did enjoy something about it. Those small things he could do to make V more comfortable. Those small moments that V let himself be cared for, and vulnerable.

A cold meant V’s already small appetite would probably be even smaller, so Nero needed to make something that was easy to eat, not to mention easy on the stomach. Now, he wasn’t an ace in the kitchen, definitely not a chef, but when it came to making food for V, he did enjoy it. 

Their pet bird Griffon chirped inside his cage when Nero came downstairs, holding a finger up to his lips.

“I’ll let you out once V’s up.” He grinned. Otherwise, Griffon just might fly up there and wake V on his own. The bird, despite his tiny size, could be quite… loud.

From an overhead cupboard, Nero gathered a packet of rice and turned to the stove.

It didn’t take long to turn the kettle on and fix a pot, with some rice and water. Nero fixed himself up in the bathroom quickly, just in time for the kettle to boil. Their kitchen was simple but had all appliances they needed. The cupboards were light in colour, inviting a homey feeling, thanks to Kyrie’s advice when it came to design.

Griffon’s chirp told him of the other man’s entrance before the soft steps of the blue, fluffy slippers with bunny ears. Nico had thought they were hilarious. Nero disagreed, but at least they were warm… and somewhat adorable on V’s pale feet.

“Good morning. Pardon my late arrival.” V’s voice was audibly raspy, his green eyes still a bit hazy from sleep, which wasn’t a common sight.

“Morning sleepyhead! You could have stayed in bed a few more minutes. Porridge’s not finished yet.” Nero gave him a gentle smile and gave a nod towards the kitchen table. “Tea’s done though, so sit.” As Griffon kept chirping, he absentmindedly opened the birdcage on the counter. The tiny, blue feathered bird pecked at his finger, before flapping his wings and flying to perch at V’s shoulder.

“Good morning to you as well, Griffon.” The pale man, dressed in one of Nero’s sweater that hung rather loosely on his lean frame, smiled at the bird, before turning to his boyfriend.

“I’m afraid I have little appetite for breakfast, Nero.” V admitted with a weak, apologetic smile, making his way to one of the chairs. Shadow brushed against his leg on her way towards her bowl. “And who is a… sleepyhead, if I might ask?” He added, sounding amused. The smirk on his face was as charming as ever, but it didn’t take away the tiredness in those green eyes.

Nero came over to the table with a teacup in his hands, steam rising from the ginger tea, the porcelain the same brown colour as V’s favourite poetry book.

“You, for once.” The silver-haired man replied, placing the cup in front of V and leaned in to kiss V’s cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“A bit under. I do not wish for you to catch my disease.” V chuckled, Nero never seemed to worry about germs however and he placed his forehead against V’s. 

“Just call it a cold. You’re not gonna infect me that easy.” Nero chuckled. V’s forehead did feel too hot though, so Nero kissed V’s warm cheek lovingly. V made a small sound as if tickled.

“I am not as certain about that. You are the kind of man to catch a cold, and yet keep going without acknowledging it, until it becomes too much.” V pointed out with a small smirk.

The tips of Nero’s ears turned red.

“That was just once.” 

V replied with smirking wider, as if saying “do keep telling yourself that”. 

“You’re gonna call in sick to work, drink tea, have some porridge and stay put in bed, until you feel better. And I’ll fix the stuff around the house.” Nero said, carefully pulling away, a determined, but happy tone in his voice.

V had been so busy lately, with literature lectures at the university, helping other professors arrange for guest lecturers coming to visit and helping out at a book fair at the local library. Come to think of it, V tended to crash after having a lot to do for a while. He liked being busy, especially when it came to literature, but Nero sometimes wondered if he wasn’t doing a little bit too much.

“As wonderful as that sounds… if memory serves, you have a meeting at work today?” V pointed out, lifting the teacup to his lips, sipping, despite the steam rising from the cup. Nero would never pull off drinking something that hot without burning himself. V just looked graceful, with or without a cold.

V chuckled at the sight of the gears in Nero’s head turning.

“Fuck…!”

***

Okay, so everything didn’t go according to Nero’s plan. His work had been adamant about him having to come in for the meeting, otherwise Vergil would have his head. And Nero believed it. If his boss hated one thing, it was tardiness.

That didn’t mean that Nero left the house without being sure that V had been properly cared for, back in bed with some rice porridge to eat, plenty of tea to drink, books to keep him occupied and cold medicine ready to take as soon as he’d eaten. And their pets had been told to make sure V did eat. Not that neither the feline nor the avian could speak, but they had always had a soft spot for V and Nero could swear they looked after V just as much as he did.

V said he’d be fine even if Nero went, but Nero wouldn’t leave without swearing it would be alright for V to call, whenever he needed to, or for whatever reason. V had gazed at him, eyes slightly wide, before they softened and his lips quirking in a small, mischievous smirk. His green eyes had looked as if they said ‘thank you’, without V having to form the words on his lips. Nero’s heart had melted at the sight, before finally having to tear himself away to work.

***

For the entire day, Nero wanted nothing else than to go back home to that fragile, beautiful man. The second the boring, long-ass meeting was done, he checked the display, no calls, no messages. On his way rushing out of the conference room, he’d said yes, he’d check out whatever they wanted him to, later. First, he had somewhere to be.

The house was quiet when he arrived, having to stop himself from opening the door too quickly, he had almost hit himself in the face with the door once, the first day he’d come home from work to their new home. Tugging his shoes off, he glanced into the kitchen.

“I’m home. V?” He said softly, in case his boyfriend was sleeping upstairs, or in the living room.

When no reply came, he sneaked upstairs.

The door to the bedroom was open and the first thing Nero saw was Shadow’s head turning, looking straight at him with her knowing red eyes. She laid curled up against V’s thigh.

“Hey. V, you awake?” The words remained whispers as Nero made his way into the room, smiling to himself at the sight.

V’s head rested on a pile of pillows, stacked against the bed frame, his soft black hair flowing over the cushion cover. His favourite poetry book, the one emblazed with a capital V on the cover, was open over his stomach. His face was a tiny bit flushed, but he appeared to be sleeping soundly. Griffon perched on the bed frame, watching Nero.

Nero carefully sat on the bed, checking for a reaction. The grin grew on his face as there were none, V looked so beautiful that Nero just wanted to watch him. Be close to him when he woke up, ready to give V whatever he needed to brace the cold, whatever he needed in the world.

Only the tattoos on V’s hands were visible, due to Nero’s sweater that he apparently had decided to sleep in.

Nero bit his lip. The last thing he wanted was to disturb V, he looked so precious when he slept, but Nero had really missed him, during the hours he’d been gone. His chest felt all warm, just watching V be at ease. Safe and loved as he should be.

Carefully, Nero scooted closer to his boyfriend, threading his fingers through V’s. His long fingers felt a bit chilled, but Nero’s warmth would help with that soon. To the sound of V’s calm breathing, Nero laid down next to V, slowly and careful not to wake the sleeping beauty. For just a little while, he wanted to stay there, wonder what V could be dreaming of. It didn’t take long for his eyelids to relax from V’s scent, his warmth and the sound of his peaceful breathing.

***

V thought he was having a pleasant dream, when he sleepily opened his eyes, his throat parched from sleep, aching from the cold. When trying to sleep earlier, he’d shifted between being too cold and too warm every minute, but at least that had seemed to settle, thanks to the medicine. For the moment, he didn’t feel too hot, nor was his nerves aching with the pain that always seemed to course through them when sickness struck. 

Seeing Nero beside him, his arms holding onto V’s arm, his head on it... V’s heart clenched a bit as he swore he could hear a tiny snore from Nero. Something about seeing the silver-haired man curled up against him, so completely relaxed felt like something from a dream. Like more than he deserved.

V inhaled a shaky breath. Nero’s love still made him wonder if this was a dream he was going to wake up from soon, from time to time. His heart felt so warm, as if it would explode like a supernova.

Was this kind of happiness permitted? How could he ever make Nero as happy as he always made V?

It was always the little things that made V love Nero so. Like the surprises he liked to pull, bringing V to art exhibitions or museums, even a classical music concert once. How he’d been so bad at making tea in the beginning of their relationship, always making the tea too bland or too strong, but he’d learned, a bit in secret to make it just like V wanted it. He even remembered what blends V preferred. He soaked up the small details about V with seemingly effortless attention that had surprised V in the beginning. Sometimes it still did. Every time, V felt as if he fell in love all over again. Or maybe he loved Nero just a little bit more.

 _How can I ever let you know, just how precious you are to me?_ V did want to make sure Nero wouldn’t catch this cold as well, however… Nero being so close was oh, so tempting.

Carefully, he lowered his head, placing a fluttering kiss in Nero’s hair. The short strands could tickle when brushed one way, but V was so careful they only felt soft.

A chirp from overhead made him smirk and he held up his free hand.

“Jealous are we, Griffon?” He said with an amused tone, his cold making his deep voice sound raspy.

The bird perched on his index finger with another, louder chirp. V felt his smirk soften into a smile as Nero made a sound and shuffled against his shoulder, lifting his head.

“Hey beautiful. How you feeling?” V felt his heart go warm at Nero’s words, delivered with an adorable, sleepy tone.

“I’m quite fine, Nero. Just a sore throat, I’m certain my fever has lessened.” He replied, his deep voice raspy.

Griffon flew to the window, chirping when V lowered his hand as he felt Nero scoot away, trying to get up.

“I’ll make you some more tea.” V’s hand managed to catch onto Nero’s lower arm. His grip wasn’t tight, just a quiet request that made Nero shift his gaze back to him.

“Stay, please.” V tugged gently, meeting Nero’s alluring eyes, smiling as they softened and Nero settled down again, letting out a content sigh against V’s shoulder.

“Sure you don’t need anything? Your water glass’s empty.” Nero wondered, looking up at V.

“You are all I need.” V replied, feeling a smirk play on his lips when tips of Nero’s ears turned slightly red. Another small thing he loved about Nero, how open his reactions were. V might enjoy teasing him, but there was still truth to his words.

“Well…” Nero chuckled, his face alight with a grin and that soft redness on his cheeks making him as beautiful as a picture to V’s eyes. “...that can be fixed.” 

“I’m delighted to hear it.” The poet smirked, placing another kiss against Nero’s forehead. “If I may…” He carefully grabbed his favorite poem anthology and placed it in Nero’s hands. “...read for me?” As much as he enjoyed to quote poetry aloud, right now it would probably do his slightly sore throat a disservice. 

Nero paused, watching the brown cover with the golden V staring back at him. V knew poetry was not Nero’s strong suit, if he ever listened to V’s quoting, it was more to hear his voice than anything. Nero reading poetry however? Didn’t really happen.

“Alright, fine.” His boyfriend snorted, opening up the book to a random page. “Got a request?” 

“Whichever you prefer.” V’s voice was still a bit raspy, his throat in need of water but he didn’t wish to leave for the kitchen, nor for Nero to move, just yet. 

“No judging if I stumble.” Nero demanded, scanning the pages, turning them lightly, seemingly in search of a poem that was simple, maybe one that he too could appreciate.

His fingers stopped searching, as he came upon a particular page. 

“Alright...” Nero mumbled, clearing his throat just a little bit before starting on the first words of the page.

“Love and harmony combine,

And round our souls entwine

While thy branches mix with mine,

And our roots together join.”

Nero’s voice wasn’t as smooth as V’s whenever he quoted, but the fact that Nero made an effort, not to mention chose that poem out of all of them… It brought a warmth to V’s chest again, his smirk softening into a smile as he just listened. When Nero stopped, V glanced at his boyfriend with a silent question in his green eyes. 

“Poetry’s definitely more your thing. I don’t get the rest.” Nero admitted and V couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Nevertheless... I thank you… for your lovely attempt.” V smirked. 

“Hey, at least I got this part. We’re not trees, but I mean…” Nero stopped, the tips of his ears turning a charming red as if he just realized what he was saying. 

“Love and harmony do combine and round our souls entwine.” V agreed, his hand seeking out Nero’s and threading his long fingers together with Nero’s. 

“Honestly, I barely get that passage either. But it sounds good.” Nero grinned.

V could not hold back another chuckle. 

“It certainly does.” For now, he truly wished to hold on to this love and harmony. The look in Nero’s eyes revealed the same and V didn’t protest as the other man slowly leaned in and kissed his lips. It was soft, felt wonderful really. Convinced him even more that there was no place he’d rather be, than in this space, feeling loved and protected. 

When the kiss came to an end, he missed Nero’s soft lips instantly. 

But...

“Let’s hope you do not catch my cold. However...” He put a light finger against Nero’s lips when his boyfriend opened his mouth to argue. “... I do not mind, taking care of you, every once in a while.”

“That’s my line.” Nero grinned, before leaning in again. V let him, welcomed him with his plump lips as they just lived in the moment. 

**Author's Note:**

> The poem mentioned is Love and Harmony by William Blake. Thank you for reading! :D


End file.
